Showing posts with label Animate Miami. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animate Miami. Show all posts

It's #TBT Animate Florida Style





As you all sure know by now, I absolutely, whole heartedly, unmistakably LOVE cons! Every con I can attend, I do. In just a little over a week, I will be attending Animate Florida again and I am oh-so-excited! Seeing as it's Thursday, I thought doing a #TBT post about my attendance to Animate Miami (as it was previously called) would be perfect because I've had SO much fun every time I've gone and I'd like to reminisce on that...

#TBT to Animate Florida 2014

This con debuted only 2 years ago, and in that short amount of time, it has grown exponentially. I remember the first time I went (also was my very first con ever) how not many people knew about it. Yet, despite this fact, a good number of people did go. I remember being fascinated by all the cosplays that, until that point, I had only ever seen in pictures or videos. 

Here are some of my favorite ones from this con:

This Iron-Man suite is so cool!

Who doesn't love "Legend of Zelda"? I know I do!

This made me laugh so hard, and I applaud his creativity

The family that cosplays together, stays together

I think these guys are hilarious, and awesome!

I love that they did a group cosplay (especially because I've always wanted to do one of those)

And these are my favorite pics of all from 2014's Animate con:

Because they've always actually been in style

Best. Photobomb. EVER!

Remember to never tell Thor to his face that you love Loki more

As a big (BBC's) Sherlock fan, I found this incredibly awesome!

#TBT to Animate Florida 2015

Last year I noticed just how much bigger this con had gotten in such short amount of time. It was bigger not only because it had more people, but also more exhibitors, and more room. The cosplays in 2015 were even bigger and better; there were so many awesome ones that, I am not going to lie, I had a hard time choosing just a few to share with you.

Some of my favorite cosplays were:
Princess Vader? Yes, please!

Joy!
I repeat: family that cosplays together, stays together.
Ru-fi-o!
I was OBSESSED with Rainbow Brite when I was a kid!

I absolutely love it when people put their own twist into their cosplays
But I have to say, my absolute favorite pictures from this con were....

This absolutely beautiful and absolutely creative cosplay of The Corpse Bride

Tiny Princess Leia = Adorable x 1000
(she was actually whispering "Help us Obi Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope" into the little R2D2)

Because Agent Carter is #lifegoals

This group who decided to dress as characters from "Steven's Universe" and were singing the theme song to the show that Zach Collision (voice of Steven) himself joined them

Oh, and I got a picture with Zach myself! He's the coolest guy ever!

I so look forward to this year's Animate Florida where I am sure to have as much -or even more -fun as I have done in the previous 2 years. 

Don't forget to get your tickets before they're gone!








Super Conventions moves @ParadiseCityCon & @AnimateFlorida conventions to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida!





Do we have some exciting news for you! As you know we love going to cons and two of our favorites have found a new home at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center. Along with the new location they also got a name change-- Animate Miami is now Animate Florida and Magic City Comic Con is Paradise City Comic Con. 2016 is turning out to be all types of amazing!  




Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (March 23, 2016) — Super Conventions, the largest geek culture event company in all of Florida, will be relocating two of its Miami-based fan conventions to Fort Lauderdale. This move will allow for advancements towards modernity, centrality and an overall increase in size. These two events will get a facelift and take on names more fitting of a centralized location in South Florida. Animate Miami levels up to become Animate Florida. Magic City Comic Con, sharing a nickname that Miami acquired in the 1940s becomes Paradise City Comic Con which alludes to Fort Lauderdale’s fun in the sun culture.

Super Conventions hosts more geeks each year than any other fan convention in the state of Florida with more than 82,000 people attending its events each year. One of the most significant attractions for attendees is the opportunity to meet adored celebrities from TV shows and movies that appeal to fans of comics, animation, anime, cosplay, fantasy, and science fiction. Super Conventions has hosted over 400 celebrity guests from hit series such as Star Trek, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Sesame Street, Arrow, The 100, Once Upon a Time, Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and more. Stars have come from hit movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Clerks, Tron, Captain America, The Avengers, Army of Darkness, Shaft, Princess Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, and more. Animated voice actors have come from hits such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Spongebob Squarepants, Thundercats, Spiderman, Transformers, My Little Pony, Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe, and so much more. 

Animate Florida will take place September 16, 17, & 18, 2016 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center. It presents fan culture relating to animation, cosplay, and anime with celebrities and artists scheduled to delight attendees. The last Animate event had 12,000 attendees, and the move to Fort Lauderdale will provide more space to host more exhibitors, programming, and celebrities. This Fort Lauderdale location also delivers more natural beauty for showcasing cosplay, a long-held request of cosplayers in South Florida. Animate will schedule shuttles to prime beach locations for one-of-a-kind cosplay photography during the event.



Paradise City Comic Con will take place December 9, 10, & 11, 2016 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center. It is a full-scale geek culture event that will feature TV and movie stars, comic creators, a large exhibition room of collectibles, and programming for comics, animation, anime, cosplay, fantasy, science fiction, and video gaming. The predecessor to this event hosted 19,000 people, far too large for any Miami convention center locations to accommodate while the Miami Beach Convention Center scales back on new events to accommodate construction.

Florida Supercon, the flagship geek event of Super Conventions and the largest in South Florida, will remain at the Miami Beach Convention Center during construction. Supercon had 51,000 people attend the event over four days in 2015, and it will cap attendance at 55,000 people July 1-4, 2016 while half of the facility undergoes construction. Attendees coming in from the Convention Center drive entrance should see business as usual. One notable change will be a reduction in the wait time to swap a ticket for a wristband. Anyone who purchases a ticket in advance will get to use the indoor pre-registration check-in stations powered by Growtix, the fastest event check-in platform available. Florida Supercon experienced lines last year because some attendees had to check in at the Will Call stations outside of the Miami Beach Convention Center. This year, no matter how someone gets a ticket in advance, they can check in inside the building and away from the heat.

One of the biggest obstacles for Super Conventions in utilizing The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center in the past was the port security booth that limited access to the convention center. With the recent move of the security booth away from the Convention Center and closer to the port, access will no longer be a problem for attendees. 



“I'm thrilled to be able to bring some of our events back to Fort Lauderdale, where we started 10 years ago! Fort Lauderdale deserves first class geek and pop culture events, and has been severely underserved in the past several years." Florida Supercon Founder Mike Broder said. "We could not have done this without the support and assistance of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau (GLCVB), who have worked closely with us to make this happen. As well, our partners at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center have been outstanding during this transition"

Super Conventions is a Fort Lauderdale based company which employs eight people who live in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The company prides itself on generating economic activity within the region and reinvesting its profits back into the local economy. In addition to its direct investments, surveys of attendees show that adults spend $300 on average at the event, after admission. This includes meals, hotel stays, and experiences with celebrities, bringing an estimated $15 million in economic activity each year into South Florida. 

Recap: @Animate! Miami


Contrary to most conventions of today, Animate! Miami's main focus is not pop culture, but, rather, it is anime, animation, comics, cosplay, and video games. I felt that this year's Animate! Miami was more successful in drawing the focus more onto those things than last year by having mainly voice actors from popular animes and cartoon series, as well as having a massive room with tons of video game stations and having a costume contest on each one of the nights. All of that plus with many beloved voice actors having not only panels, but meet and greets and autograph sessions throughout the weekend and the amazing merchandize on display, surely made this weekend a hit!


 We were so excited to be at Animate! Miami

Can't you tell?

#ThrowbackThursday: Once Upon A Cosplay




Throwback Thursday is the theme of the day! We share with you our adventures throughout book signings, world premieres, mall tours and many others.

A book began the bond of a lifetime...


Today's Throwback Thursday is another cosplay post. This time around is going to be about my top 5 favorite cosplays I've done.

For as long as I can remember I've loved dressing up, which is one of the main reasons Halloween has always been my favorite holiday of the year. But now a days, with the nerds taking over pop culture, cons have become increasingly popular, which gives us all a ton of more opportunities to dress up -sometimes a few times in one weekend! 

Unfortunately, not all of us have the cash flow to spend on really good costumes, or the talent to make them ourselves. So what do you do when this is the case but you love dressing up like I do? You put your creativity to use and improvise! Some people don't realize that there are tons of costumes you can come up with right from your closet! All you have to do is use your imagination, maybe purchase a few items, and make do with what you've got.

With that said, I've worn a ton of costumes that have come out straight from my closet and I've gotten many compliments.

Here are my top 5 favorite cosplays I've done:

#5 - The Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who

Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor is my favorite Doctor, so when my friend Rixi had the great idea of us dressing up as him, inspired by one of the episodes where there are two Doctors, for SuperCon, I was all over that!  I loved putting this together because I had every single item I needed right in my closet, except the suspenders, which I bought at Party City.

Here are a few pictures from #SuperCon:

I even found a TARDIS!

Here I am with a War Doctor

#4 - Amy Pond from Doctor Who

I have some friends who own an artistic studio here in Miami where they have monthly comedy shows that are themed differently every month. Those of us part of the "framily" always dress up according to the theme. March 2015's theme (in honor of one of the team members's birthday) was Doctor Who and I was assigned Amy Pond. When this show took place, I had just started to watch the series, so I hadn't met Amy yet (I believe I was on Donna's run), but I looked up the outfit the birthday boy suggested I wear (from the episode "Asylum of  the Daleks") and was so, so happy to see that I had everything already, and that all I needed was a long red wig -which I got from Amazon. And so my cosplay of Amy took place and, after I did meet her on the series, I realized then how awesome it was that I got to be her for the show.



I even had my "Last Centurion" with me <3

Photo credits to Tin Box Photo

#3 - Batgirl

Another redheaded cool lady I got to dress up as! This time it was for my friend Eddie who was just starting his photography business back in October 2013, and asked me to pose for him for a session. He is a bit of geek himself and so he likes to do geeky themed shoots (which I love, of course!), and so he asked me to dress as Batgirl, which made me very happy to honor this amazing super heroine. I already owned the tee shirt from Hot Topic inspired by her outfit, all I did was wear a long sleeve black shirt under it, made it a little girlier with a miniskirt and some black tights. I had so much fun taking these!





#2 - Tonks when she was a Hogwarts Student

Anyone who knows me knows that my #1 fandom will always be Harry Potter, so of course this cosplay had to be on the list (and it's not the top one because of how awesome the next one is -and how much more work it required). In September 2014, the theme for the comedy show at the studio was Harry Potter and -at the moment -I was the biggest Pottered of the group, so naturally I volunteered to help them plan and decorate the studio, and then I very excitedly planned my cosplay for this show. I am a Hufflepuff -and proud of it too -and so I wanted to make homage to one of the best, most inspiring Hufflepuffs ever in history: Nymphadora Tonks. In the movies, her character was almost brushed off and her awesomeness was not given nearly enough credit, but if you've read the books (which I am sure most of you following this blog have), you know JUST how amazing and fun she is. The thing is that I didn't have anything in my closet that even resembled what Tonks wears in the movies, so I had the brilliant idea (if I do say so myself) of dressing up as her, but when she was a Hogwarts student. This inspiration came to me because I saw the shirt I have (yes, still have!) that's based on the Hogwarts uniform, I paired it with a gray skirt I had (yeah, that one I gave away) but added some funky Tonks-inspired touches she probably wore in her teens: bright pink tights, leather biker boots, pigtails, and a Qudditch Hufflepuff team cap (which I got at the theme park and had barely worn), and here is the final result:



That's my little sister dressed as the boy who lived

Photo credit goes to Stephanie Meyer-Senior

#1 - Poison Ivy

Batman is my favorite super hero and, from his universe, I love two of his nemesis: Catwoman and Poison Ivy. I love that in Batman women are as powerful and cool as boys (which Marvel, as much as I love them, doesn't do as much), especially when they are baddies. Remember my long wig for when I was Amy Pond? Well, I love it and was excited to be able to wear it once more. I went on Pinterest to research DIY costumes of Poison Ivy and found lots of inspiration. A friend of mine gave me a corset she no longer uses and I bought a pair of dark green tights at Target, then I went to Michael's and bought a ton of ivy leaves and spent hours hot gluing them to the corset (which wasn't as good of an idea as I thought it'd be because some of them ended up falling off throughout the night, so next time I am sewing them on!). So this cosplay, even though it wasn't an expensive one, is the only I didn't have all the pieces needed for it -at least they were easy to obtain! This costume too was for one of the comedy shows and, to be honest, it was a total hit! I can't wait to have the time to sew all the leaves (to make sure no more wardrobe malfunctions happen) on the corset and be able to wear it one more time.




And, as an added bonus, here are two other cosplays I've done that I loved putting together:

 River Song from Doctor Who (in the episode "Lake Silencio") -sans the jean jacket; Miami is TOO hot for that!
Hipster Ariel (The Little Mermaid)


This weekend is Animate! Miami (FINALLY!) and Rixi and I will be there all weekend long! If you are there and you see us, come say hello. I can't wait to be able to dress up all weekend long and then share my DIY cosplays with you all next week!














An Animate! Miami Q&A with Sandy Tang!




We had the lovely pleasure to ask few questions to Sandy Tang, a Professional Cosplayer! As you know Tamara and Rixi are heading to Animate! Miami to cover this exciting con. They've even shared their past cosplay roles. Today, we are lucky to share Sandy's experience as a Professional Cosplayer to all our geek readers! Read below:



Would you please tell us something about yourself? When did you first Cosplay? For which event?
I am a self taught makeup enthusiast with a love for anime, video games, and things crafty. I have always known about cosplay because my sister has been doing it for years. Until recently I wanted to expand my artistic ability into making costumes. Originally I wanted to debut my first cosplay to Animate January 2014 but I was unable to finish my costume. So I ended up bringing it to Megacon 2014. It was of my Morrigan Aensland from Darkstalkers. 


When performing a character, is it more important for you to do it in the way that feels most right to you, or do you think it is more important to echo your Japanese counterpart's performance? 
I don't think about cosplay as a "performance". I tend to choose characters who I feel have similar personalities with a side of feeling confidence when wearing them. For example Morrigan Aensland is a dark character with a sassy attitude and at the same time very beautiful.



What do you personally think of the vicious hatred expressed by certain otaku for any kind of English dubbing? 
I don't pay attention to what people say about anything. What I do is because it is what I like to do and I could care less about what people say. I grew up watching anime subbed but I don't mind watching it dubbed. It makes it easier when I am crafting, so I can watch my anime and sew at the same time.


Are you an anime fan, yourself? If so, which ones (that you did not work in) appealed to you most.Why?
Yes I love anime. I like a lot of animes that have comedy, action, and romance in them. Such as Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Ranma 1/2, Trigun, Outlaw Star, Claymore, Samurai Champloo, etc

What work have you done that you are most proud of? Least? 
I am most proud of my most recent cosplay which is Kitana from Mortal Kombat X. Since Mortal Kombat released a new version of Kitana wearing actual ARMOR made me love her. I felt I built her well in durability, wear-ability, and accurate to the concept art.



Least proud of would be the characters I tagged to be in a group of and I didn't really know the character of and so there was no drive and passion to those builds. I.E. White Canary

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
To anyone who wants to cosplay or already cosplay, it doesn't matter about the number of followers or likes you have as long as you have fun and enjoy what you do, none of that matters. 




About Animate! Miami
Animate! Miami is Florida’s largest convention for anime and animation, with three days featuring some of the industry’s biggest names, celebrities, cosplayers, comedians, entertainers, and more. There will be hundreds of events, including panels, Q&As, costume contests, video gaming, comedy shows, exhibitors, artists, and more for all ages. To learn more about Animate! Miami (formerly Anime Supercon / Animation Supercon), click here. The event is produced by the team at Super Conventions, the organizers of the South Florida comic conventions, Animate! Miami, Florida Supercon and Magic City Comic Con. Mike Broder originally founded the first Florida Supercon (currently the largest comic convention in South Florida) to fill a void in the South Florida geek culture scene, and he has since launched Animate! Miami and Magic City Comic Con.
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